Watch out for Board Shack in Livermore

Yea, I just wanted to give a heads up to everyone.

I put a board on lay away at the board shack in Livermore and I just got burned. I had picked out a specific, numbered, special edition board and made payments on it. I went today with the last payment and I was handed a different board than I picked out. Actually it was the display board out of the window. I said I did not want the board and he refused to give me my money back.

The board is scratched and chipped in more than one place, has been in the window for about a year, ( I started making payments on my board 10 months ago ).

We had made an agreement as what board I wanted, how much it would cost, and that it would take me a while to pay for it.

On top of that, he did not give me the bag I paid for or the fins that go on the board.

So now I have a scratched, chipped wakeboard with no fins.

On top of that, several of my friends have tried to make returns there, or exchanges and have been denied. Also one of my close girlfriends said she felt uncomfortable in his store, and other girls have said that as well.

Be careful, the guy is a scammer.

Thanks for reading. Hopefully my bad experience will help other people to not get screwed over like I did!

Thats totally messed up not to give you the fins, Every board comes with fins, and if you paid for a bag thats just bad buisness, Plus the fact I was with you when you picked the bag out & board and heard everything! I doubt anyone has had a good expirence there!!!!

I'm sorry to hear this and I am also surprised. I have purchased many items from the Boardshack and haven't had any problems. He has also given me some really good deals. I haven't had to return anything though so can't comment there.

I also feel comfortable in his store. He does like to talk (a lot)... which usually runs me late back to work.

Well first off I would take that board back imediatly and ask to talk to the owner/manager and if it is the manager tell him that you will be reporting him to the better buisness buero. dont be punked around by some dead beat at a board shack. If you want someone else to go with you to help you argue im down to help out I live in san ramon and I work at monument in livermore.

Mike is a really cool guy... I'm sorry to hear that you had a bad experience in his shop. He took really good care of me with a set of CD bindings that I bought from him. I gotta say, too, that a 10 month layover is something of a long time. I know what board you are talking about and I'm sure he ended up selling "your" board to cover himself and make sure he wasn't sitting on it. Anyway, hope you get things figured out.

i'd report the shop to the better business bureau.

to hell with it...i'd pass out flyers in front of the shop to each and every customer about how much that shop sucks.

lol umm just like all teh skaters in town call it the crack shack. i have had friends go in and get a deck for nothing. mike is cool gives mymom all kinds of deals on swimsuits but yeah he is a shady character. barely makes rent in that place also. dunno how he gets those boards he gets but yeah none the boards there cept teh ricky g in the window. i wouldn't buy a wakeboard from him though(he has gotten lik 5 new ones since the shop first opened before he bought it) and the shop may be closed down soon because according to my friends in the downtown associaion he is baqrely making his rent and is shady like u guys have mentioned

Thanks for the imput.

First of all, I know 10 months is a long time. I told him more than once if he needed the money that bad, or needed to sell the board, let me know, give me my money back, and I would buy another board when I had the full amount. I ended up in a spot after I had started to pay for it, but I offered to make it right; just give me my money back.

Second of all, I speak to mike on a semi regular basis. Less than a month ago he said that my board was there, waiting for me, in the bag, ready to pick up, and he was not worried about it, it would be waiting for me, and he understood about money situations as he has them himself.

All he had to do was call me and let me know that he needed to sell it, or run it buy me since I had already put money down on the board.

I have reported it to the BBB but that never does anything.

The thing that pisses me off is I have known him for over 2 years. I have bought things in his store for myself, and my little brother and sister.

I used to think mike was a nice guy and all the stories I heard, I deffended saying that he was cool.

You don't do that to people. If you say something, stand behind it, and if you have someones money, you do not mess with that either.

Nate, I think I know you, lol. I know Kevin at your work. I come in there for parts sometimes. I thank you for the offer. I might hit you up on that.

foxxmotogirl, i know a place that can get you a great deal on a BRAND NEW doubleup or blindside board and bindings for real, real low, if you're not happy w/ what you have now, and your bank account allows for another purchase. i promise you, they won't rip you off! you have lots of witnesses here!

Thanks Joe. The board is going to have to do. I have wanted it forever, just hopefully I can get it fixed so that the chips do not cause problems. I do need some bindings though, so any info is welcome.

Lets just say my bank account is now beter than his is so I can afford to buy what I need, so sure, point me in a good direction. I know Dan Britto will have a few ideas as well. ( he is a good friend of mine).

Thank you very much! :-)

Oh yea. He also said " this is my shop nd I can do whatever I want. If you don't like it, oh well".

Some customer service.

That really sux No new board should ever be sold without fins(what would the manufacturer think of that?) And if you agreed on a bag, you should get a bag! What kind of board is it? Maybe someone on WW has some extra fins for ya? Or, you might want to call the manufacturer, they will not be happy with his conduct, and they can pull their line from his store, but more important they might have sympathy and help you get things right

dude i would have spent a few hours in jail over that one because when he copped that attitude with me i would have smacked him in the face with that board and demanded my money back..he has an azz whooping coming for sure...

Sorry to hear about your bad experience. In such a small market it's important to make sure everyone is happy. If you need a new board shop, I highly recommend Skiworld in Castro Valley. Their staff is the best. They have hooked me up many times. The service there is the awesome and the staff is super friendly.

Take it up with the manufacturers I had a similar problem with a shop in South Africa and the manufacturers sorted me out.

FoxxMotoGirl,

Sorry to hear about the bad news, but way to keep your head up!

I would call the manufacturer of the board, Hype, Liquid, Gator, etc and explain the situation and see if they are able to take care of you with a set of fins.....


Good Luck!


-== peace =-
Aaron

I'm pretty sure she is talking about a Collin Wright board, so it may be difficult to get much done... Don't know..In personal experience he has treated me well, but it definitely sounds shady. People get what's coming to them.

If you need any help fixing the chips/ scratches let me know. I'm pretty decent with fiberglass (just had to fix my board last night).

J-Rod is right on with the ski world recomendation. I also highly recomend Milosport in Lafayette... Good people, that'll take good care of you.

That's what small claims court was created for.

File with the Small Claims Court in your county and contact the wakeboard mfg. of the board you had on layaway. Let them know how he is representing their product. When you call them you'll first speak to an in house customer service representative. Lay it out to him/her but make sure you get to speak with the mfg.'s regional rep/sales person as well.

There's no way this guy cannot refund your money. If the mfg. can't straight'n him out, small claims court will.

S1

yeah kevin is not my manager anymore i work in wholesale dont have to deal with all the retards that walk in the door with a part off there 1970 buick with a ford motor and a dodge rear end!

LOL. Thank you for all the help everyone. I will keep it posted if anything else happens.

All I know is that I own a business and I have never done anything as shady as that!

Nate - You can reach me through Yahoo Msngr, or AOL IM. Check my profile here for the contact info K!

Oh, the board. It is the Collin Wright 142, numbered series.

I payed for number 10 of 100

I got scratched up number 9 of 100.

Hmm... Interesting...
Sorry that happened to you, Foxx, that sounds like you were mistreated, for sure! I am hesitant to chime in on this topic because I would want to do so only if I thought that my comments are likely to help make the situation better for anybody or at least prevent other people from having bad experiences...

So anyway, I said "interesting," because my interactions with this dude have been odd. I introduced myself to him in his shop one day, we got to talking, spoke about mutual friends we have in the industry and so on. I went back a few days later and he appeared to remember me and acted like we now "knew" each other, but he also appeared to have absolutely no recollection of the things we had talked about just a few days before. When I made mention again of our mutual wakeboard industry "friends," it was as if we had never had that conversation. He seemed very surprised that we knew some of the same people, and I was thinking silently to myself "dude... we talked about this a LOT, just a few days ago!", and it's not like he had been busy or preoccupied or anything. It was all very weird.

Anyway, I'll admit he gave me a smoking great deal on some snowboard bindings leftover from the previous model year, but it was contingent upon a cash-only deal. When I asked for a receipt, he declined to give me one and said it wasn't necessary, and instead he told me just to bring them back if there were any problems because he "always takes care of his customers."
Yeah, yeah, I know... But the price was worth it, and if they break I'll just go directly through the manufacturer, whom I trust. Anyway, you all can draw your own conclusions from my story and decide whether this is the type of shop you want to do business with. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't.

Maybe the most helpful thing I can contribute is to strongly second Evan's recommendation to check out MiloSport in Lafayette for wake, snow, skate, clothes, etc. The owner (George) is a great guy, and he has good honest kids working for him. They will give you a fair deal and will take care of you after the purchase. No worries about being scammed at MiloSport - great people!!
Peace.

Well, I got some fins. The bag should be on order, but I am not going to ever step foot in the store again to get it, but you could say he is trying to make it right.

He also just told me that he is going to have me arrested, thrown in jail, and " hevily fined " for slander which I am typing now.

I am also getting continuous, harrasing phone calls, being told that I am stupid and inmature, I am being cursed at, and threatened.

Anyway, I go the board, even if it is not the one I originally wanted, I have A set of fins, and someone to fix the 2 chips in the board.

Well, like the owner of the shop says " I got a killer deal ".

Either way, I will never buy there again, nor will my sister, brother, or friends and I will be sure to steer everyone I know to someplace like SkiWorld!

(Message edited by foxxmotogirl on June 18, 2004)

You can't be arrested or heavily fined for slander in this case, since the things you posted are based on facts that occured. He needs a lesson or two on business and legal issues.

What kind of threats are you getting? Maybe you should file harrassment charges on him, if he keeps calling/emailing you.

This guy sounds like a real winner.

(Message edited by dakid on June 18, 2004)

Yeah Joe is right. Slander only occurs when false statements are published.

He should have known better. You screw over a wakeboarder, everyone is going to hear about it.

I too think you should file a report on the harrassment.

FoxMotoGirl

You really should contact the board mfg.. They want you to have the board you want and without chips as well. Their authorized retailers are their representatives in the industry and that's not the kind of purchasing experiance they want the buyers of their product to have. I'd think they'd make it right for you.

(I am also getting continuous, harrasing phone calls, being told that I am stupid and inmature, I am being cursed at, and threatened.)

In this state (Cali) harrassment by phone is a "crime", and I would call your local PD and get them in on it. Especially if he is making threats, making continuous calls, etc. It really helps if he says who he is, or if you recognize his voice, caller id, phone records, etc. Keep track of the date and time of the calls. Drag his lame a$$ into court!

Yea, its crazy. All I want to do is ride the damn board!

I have wrote down the times and day of the calls, as well as saved the voicemail messages. I just want it all to stop. Live and learn hu!

Thank you for all of the support!

Maybe I can post sometime soon about something that does not suck! :-)

hey man i am a manager for a proshop in fairfield a lot of people have been telling me about them if you need any thing let me know